Mountain Biking - Adjustments on full suspension?

Whats the proper way or shall I say whats the best way to adjust the suspension on both the front and rear of my mtb?

Is it better to get a lot of cusion or a stiffer ride and will either effect the performance of jumping and curves etc.

I guess what Im after is Im cool with either a siffer ride or a cusiony ride but I dont want it to effect the way my bike jumps and lands or the way it handles in curves, and I also dont want to have it set to where its going to shorten the life of my sus. so what is the best of all worlds with suspensions? Right now I have the front preloaded stiffer and the rear in the middle between stiff and soft. The reason I have the front stiff is because when I jump I know it takes a lot of abuse so it seemed only right to make the shocks stiff in front. Now the rear I wasnt sure about so I put it in between to get a little of the best of both worlds.

Am I hitting on something close to right?
Am I way off in my thinking?
Is it just a personal pref?
Your inpuit and info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks TBB

Read your shock booklets. Figure out where you ride. Decide what works better for the previous questions answer. Adjust. Ride. Repeat if needed. Consult LBS if you need further assistance.
I know fook all about jumping but I would want a nice cushiony landing. Setting your preload only affects sag. Again, maybe in the jumping world things are skewed but I'd assume you set the sag for your body weight and make other adjustments ( such as rebound, etc) to compensate for the landing. Setting preload for the amount of abuse you put it through is something I've never heard of. Your fork may or may not be designed for jumping. If it is the owners manual tells how each adjustment affects the fork. If it's not a jumping fork setting the preload won't protect the fork from abuse. The middle setting for the rear is a good place to start. After reading the manual and answering the above questions adjust "up" or "down" as needed.